Why didn’t he wrap that god damn foot in cotton wool?
It looks like Rafael dos Anjos is out of UFC 196 with reports emerging from several sources that the UFC lightweight champion has broken his foot in training.
An injury like this 12 days out from fight night means that the Brazilian’s withdrawal from the event is an inevitability although, at the time of writing, there has been no confirmation from his camp or the UFC.
With RDA looking likely to pull out, we’ve taken a look at the most likely replacements to step in and fight the Notorious on March 5.
Donald Cerrone
Whatever opponent McGregor gets for UFC 196, it is highly unlikely that the two will be slugging it out for an interim lightweight strap considering RDA last fought in December. With that in mind the UFC will be looking for a big draw in order to get those PPV buys up.
Cerrone is one of the most popular fighters in the UFC and he has already stated that he wants to fight at either UFC London or UFC 196, despite having only fought last weekend against his Brazilian nickname-sake. Cowboy came out of that bout relatively unscathed by defeating Oliveira via first round submission, so he will be fresh.
The only drawback is that Cerrone now competes at 170 while McGregor has been cutting to 155 for this camp. If the Notorious isn’t willing to fight at welterweight on short notice then a catchweight bout could be on the cards. However, if the fight must be at 155, Cerrone has the option of using IVs to recover from the cut as he is exempt from the ban because he had half of his intestines removed after a motocross accident.
.@Cowboycerrone submits @AlexCowboyUFC via triangle choke in the #UFCPittsburgh main event. 🔺🇺🇸 https://t.co/fdMRcKMKOz
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) February 22, 2016
Eddie Alvarez
The former Bellator champion is on the cusp of a title shot after defeating Strikeforce king Gilbert Melendez and former UFC champ Anthony Pettis in his last two trips to the Octagon. Alvarez doesn’t have a dance partner yet after beating Pettis on January 17 and has claimed that the key to beating McGregor is simple… get him to the ground.
It would be a good match up for McGregor because, although he already had his lightweight title shot booked against RDA, beating someone like Alvarez would ensure that there would be less complaints over him jumping the queue when that bout gets scheduled. That is assuming he can be a crafty veteran like Alvarez.
Nate Diaz
Even if Dana White doesn’t think he’s a “needle-mover”, the younger Diaz brother does have quite the following. Nate had a very impressive showing in his last bout scoring a unanimous decision victory over top 155-er Michael Johnson.
The other main benefit of Diaz stepping in is that he is a striker and will most likely be willing to stand and bang with the Notorious. This will keep the fans happy and will also play right into McGregor’s wheelhouse. Also, the prospect of these two spitting venom at each other with trash talk in the lead up, and during the fight, is a very exciting one.
Frankie Edgar
Is it finally the time to call upon the Answer. After being spoiled with so many title shots not that long ago, it seems like the former lightweight champion is being perpetually snubbed for his shot at the belt.
In fairness, he is unlikely to get this one as it wouldn’t make that much sense from McGregor’s perspective. If McGregor beats him at 155, there would be less excitement around the 145 lb title fight everyone wants to see. There are also rumours that Edgar is currently out of action with his own injury and will therefore not be able to compete at UFC 196.
UPDATE: Well shit, make that four.
If you’re clamoring for Edgar, he’s unavailable, I’m told. Dealing w/ an injury. There aren’t a ton of options. You can probably guess em.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 23, 2016
Robbie Lawler
It gets less ridiculous the more you think about it. One belt is already out of the picture, so why not go for the next one up? If McGregor wants to back up that true martial artist mentality of “it doesn’t matter how big the opponent is” he claimed to have in that Severe MMA interview, then he’d take this fight in a heartbeat.
Whether Lawler is healthy enough or not is another thing after that brutal war against Carlos Condit in January. Not to mention that ludicrous display of violence against MacDonald at UFC 189.
Damn that lip is still crazy to me 😷 Robbie Lawler is such an animal fighting through it no problem #UFCOrlando pic.twitter.com/GazOt5zIpO
— MMA GOSSiP (@MMAxGossip) December 20, 2015
Benson Hender… oh bollocks!
Thanks Reebok, that could have been great!
